Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, (A)You have searched me and known me.
2 (B)You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You (C)understand my thought afar off.
3 (D)You [a]comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, (E)You know it altogether.
5 You have [b]hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 (F)Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You [a]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [b]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 (A)My [c]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 (B)How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 (A)Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole [a]earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause (B)the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as (C)plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will [b]make you cross over with your enemies
(D)Into a land which you do not know;
For a (E)fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, (F)You know;
Remember me and [c]visit me,
And (G)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that (H)for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I (I)ate them,
And (J)Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 (K)I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my (L)pain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me (M)like an unreliable stream,
As waters that [d]fail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(N)“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall (O)stand before Me;
If you (P)take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze (Q)wall;
And they will fight against you,
But (R)they shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”
Epaphroditus Praised
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you (A)Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and (B)fellow soldier, (C)but your messenger and (D)the one who ministered to my need; 26 (E)since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, [a]not regarding his life, (F)to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.